The Ultimate Luck...
During the wake of 2021, after years of fear-mongering, the United States economy legitimately broke down completely. During all of the scrapping and confusion on Capital Hill, the mysteriously wealthy casino owners of Las Vegas further overwhelmed, and eventually overthrew, the US government. The states were grouped up into "territories" under the rule of the new government, and the branches of the old government were dissolved entirely. During the formal arising of the new government, random politicians, especially ones from Capital Hill, were rounded up and publicly executed to roars of cheers.
After 65 years, four wars, two more economic collapses and a nuclear strike on Washington, DC, the United Territories of America laid in squalor and madness. The National Casinos started financially raising the stakes more and more, hoping it would circle back around and boost the economy. It wasn't long before they started dabbling in the highest stake of all: allowing people to bet on their lives.
By 2112, life-betting became mandatory to gamble, and the traditional casino games were phased out entirely. Their replacements were twisted renditions of the games, where the object wasn't just to win, but to survive. Gamblers threw dice that were carved from human bone, ripped from a gambler who'd lost that same game days ago. And they played card games where with one turn of a card, your life could be gone in an instant. Slots, for the most part, stayed the same. But if someone lost too much, the machine would shoot them in the head, and let their body fall into a chute below.
Only large cities had casinos, and they became the backbone of the Territories deformed currency (while secretly solving the overpopulation problem). The most popular game in the casinos was Lucky Lead: a modified version of Russian Roulette, only played with cards in a style similar to Blackjack.
In the casinos, you either win big, go home and boost the economy of your area; or you lose. And are executed immediately.
Gameplay
Each player is dealt ten "Life Cards" (+); cards that act as life counters. The dealer is dealt five. At the beginning of each hand, the dealer picks six "Chamber Cards"; each one is either Loaded or Unloaded, representing the chambers of a metaphorical gun. He then deals a player a Chamber Card faced down. Before playing the card, the player chooses if he wants to use the card against himself, the other player, or the dealer.
If the player uses it on himself and it's:
- Loaded: The player loses a Life Card and the hand ends.
- Unloaded: Nothing is lost and the hand continues with the next player.
If the player uses it on another player (or the dealer) and it's:
- Loaded: The player it was aimed at loses a life and the hand ends.
- Unloaded: The attacking player loses a life as a penalty and the hand continues.
Once a hand is over, the dealer picks a new set of Chamber Cards, and the next player is dealt the first card.
Objective
The objective of the game is to get your opponent to lose all of his Life Cards ("killing" him). However, if the dealer happens to die, the player who took away his last Life Card is deemed the winner.
Wild Cards
Mixed (and disguised) within the Life Cards are Wild Cards: Defensive (-) and Offensive (X). They can be used as defense against player attacks and self-attacks (using a Loaded card on yourself) once a Chamber Card is played. After a player stages a successful defense, the player draws the amount of cards they last played from the Life Cards deck (they do not get the last-played card back).
Defense Cards
Bulletproof Vest
- Standard defense; nothing is lost.
- Can only be used in the event that you're attacked by another player.
Fast Reflexes
- Standard defense; nothing is lost.
- Can only be used in the event of a self-attack.
Offense Cards
Offense Cards are played in the event of a player attack, and cannot be played in the event of a self-attack. However, once an Offense Card is played during the hand, any type of Defense Card can be used to defend.
Backfire
- The attacking player is attacked instead, with the other player suffering no recourse.
Double Backfire
- Like Backfire, only both characters are attacked.
- Can be used to counter a Backfire from another player.
- Can be stacked with a Defense Card by the player using the card.
- If the player of the card cannot defend against it, the card represents a Life Card lost, even if the other player successfully defended against it.
Joker's Card
- Special version of Backfire that can't be reversed or defended against.
- Once played and after the player draws his card, he can randomly choose one of the opposite player's cards, counting that as the opposite player's loss.
- Only two are in the deck.
The Role of the Dealer
The dealer is there to keep the table organized, keep track of turns, and choose and deal the Chamber Cards. And anything else a dealer is expected to do.
Guidelines
- The Life Cards should be shuffled before being dealt.
- Each hand has to have only six Chamber Cards; the Loaded card minimum is one, and the maximum is three.
- The dealer has the option of either mixing up the Chamber Cards in each hand, or setting them up in any position as he sees fit, adding to the necessity of strategy and ability to read your opponent.
